"Author Ted Shrady's expertly written work on the rich history of passenger trains, The Sleeping Car is an overview of sleeping car history, design, technology, and accommodations.

"The author's research included careful study of Pullman archives at the Newberry Library in Chicago. He covers all the basics of sleeping cars and their operations, with strong emphasis on the Pullman Company (which owned and operated most of the sleepers used in this country). Chapters cover the history of sleeping car development, evolution of heavyweight and streamlined designs, interior design and accommodations, car types and construction, rebuilding programs, car names and how they were chosen, how Pullman personnel managed their vast "rolling hotel" fleet, and much more. The book concludes with a postscript on Amtrak sleeping car operations, and is complete with a variety of appendices and a detailed index.

"The information is national in scope but applies directly to the Pullman cars that ACL and Seaboard used and owned. In addition, many of the nearly 150 illustrations show ACL, Seaboard, and SCL cars. The photos include a large color section with a wide variety of heavyweight and lightweight Pullman paint schemes."